The present invention relates to an improved texture material applicator, and more particularly, to an applicator having a rotatable orifice plate which includes a plurality of nozzles of differing exit diameters wherein each nozzle has a longitudinal length corresponding to its exit diameter.
A number of devices are available for applying texture material to surfaces such as walls or ceilings of buildings. These texture material applicators have evolved from labor-intensive manual tools to modern powered devices. Modern texture material applicators are often in the form of spray guns. Compressed gas (often air) is used to expel texture material from the spray gun in response to a user operated trigger. A spray gun mounted hopper or a supply line supply texture material to the gun during use.
Such an applicator is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,161 issued to Clemmons. The Clemmons patent discloses a spray gun applicator having a user-activated spring biased trigger. The texture material enters the spray gun from a source located above the gun. The texture material is then expelled from the gun by means of compressed air which is supplied at the rear of the gun. The texture material is expelled from a mixing orifice at the front of the gun and passes through a pattern defining orifice plate. The pattern defining orifice plate contains a plurality of orifices of differing sizes which may be positioned over the mixing orifice to control the size of the plume of expelled texture material.
One of the measures of quality of texture material application is the consistency of the texture pattern deposited upon the surface. Manual texturing tools which were used in the past provide little control over the consistency of the texture deposition. Modern spray guns, on the other hand, achieve a greater level of deposition consistency. But, even these modern texture material applicators have problems with consistency in deposition and with the copious amounts of material impacting the surface outside the target area.
A pattern defining orifice plate provides some control of the material flow. However, such control is more equivalent to controlling the volume of texture material being expelled rather than controlling the consistency and focus of the deposition pattern. For example, applicators are often unable to sufficiently focus the flow of texturing materials to a specific area on the surface, thus yielding unwanted, widely dispersed deposition patterns. Additionally, applicators may produce, for example, spurting, shifting focus, no focus, or an off-axis focus of the texture material, all of which are undesirable. Such undesirable effects may yield unattractive and inconsistent deposition patterns which may require additional time and resources to rectify or may require extensive time and material for masking.
Others in the art have devised structures in an attempt to improve the consistency of the texture deposition pattern. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,846 issued to Ortega, a cylindrical deflector is utilized which tapers outwardly in the direction of texture flow. The deflector is attached to the front of the spray gun so that the texture material is directed through the deflector. The deflector intercepts the portion of the stream of texture material emitted at a wide angle from the axis of the flow. While Ortega may reduce dispersion at large angles from the flow axis, it may not provide a more consistent deposition pattern on the surface.
Thus, a need exists for a texture material applicator capable of depositing a consistent and focused texture pattern upon a surface. Additionally, this need exists for such a spray gun texture material applicator that may be made widely commercially available.